The day Hearts stormed walls of the Granite City

An 83rd-minute John Colquhoun goal 25 years ago this week prised three points from Fortress Pittodrie at a time when Aberdeen were winning domestic leagues and cups regularly, not forgetting their 1983 European Cup Winners' Cup success. Ferguson's team was packed with internationalists but they could not stifle a Hearts side who, much like the current squad, were beginning to sense the chance of success.

NOBODY won at Pittodrie in the early to mid-1980s. Not even the Old Firm. Away victories were unheard of during Aberdeen's halcyon days under Sir Alex Ferguson. So when Hearts recorded a 1-0 scoreline in the north-east in mid-January 1986, it served yet further notice of their title aspirations.

At the time, Aberdeen were champions of Scotland and regarded as the major footballing force in the country, closely followed by Jim McLean's Dundee United. Celtic were to finish victorious from that season's league campaign but were by no means certs for the title, whilst Rangers were languishing in mid-table during the final weeks of Jock Wallace's second-spell as manager.

Hearts' emergence came as a surprise but after winning at Pittodrie there was an uninhibited confidence within the camp, which even bordered on arrogance according to those involved.

"Standing in the tunnel there was a certain arrogance about us," said Henry Smith, the goalkeeper. "We knew we would be a hard team to beat if we did the basics properly. We knew we would create chances and, most of the time, we buried them.

"Winning at Pittodrie added yet more confidence. We were going to a place where they thought they were invincible. As a team, Aberdeen thought they were exceptionally good. We went there on a run and I don't think they expected us to be that hard a team to beat.

"They weren't complacent because they gave us a real hard game, but we coped with what they threw at us and gave back more. That's why we ended up with the three points. I remember wee JC scoring the goal. We won at Pittodrie, we won at Ibrox and we won at Parkhead that year. Not many teams do that in a season. JC was on fire, Robbo was on fire. We knew if we got one goal at Pittodrie that day then we'd go on and win the game."

The result maintained a four-point gap between Hearts and Dundee United in the Premier Division table, although the Edinburgh club had played three games more. The belief within the Tynecastle dressing room was nurtured through to the final weeks of the campaign as Hearts led the rest down to the final day.

"We started that season without a win in our first five games. Then we went on this run and when you are on a run like that it spreads confidence," recalled Smith. "Before the game you are on the team bus going up to Pittodrie and thinking 'nobody can beat us the way we're playing just now'. We weren't giving goals away and big Sandy Clark and wee Robbo were scoring goals for fun. We were creating chances and the oppsition weren't getting chances.

"Alex MacDonald, the manager, gave us a belief so that we went out not expecting to lose. People did their jobs properly on the park and didn't try things they weren't capable of doing. Certain boys worked their socks off which maybe the fans and other people didn't see, but we knew they were doing a job for the team. They won the ball and gave it to the ball players to do their job.

"We knew we were a decent team, we knew that from the outset. There was a piece of the jigsaw missing in the first five games. Maybe it was over-anxiety with people trying too hard to impress. Once we got over that we shone for the next 30-odd games.

"We would talk inside the dressing room and we knew ourselves we had a chance of winning the league. We were racking up the points and Celtic were two or three games behind us. I remember they played during the week and they were playing catch-up. We were thinking they had to slip up some time but Celtic were a decent team as well that season."